Happy Halloween Door Quilt

Decorating the house for Halloween is almost as fun as decorating for Christmas! Outside we've got light up spooky eyes, glowing ghosts, a spider web, and creepy hands reaching out of the ground...

But I also love a good door quilt. 

And, let's be honest, a fast door quilt, because I'm usually in the mood to sew something just a few days before said holiday. 

Thanks to fusible web letters, this door quilt goes together quickly. My favorite part? The spider webs I quilted into it! Find your favorite Halloween prints and get started.

You'll Need:

• 1/4 yard orange pumpkin print
• 1/2 yard haunted house print
• 1/4 yard yellow spiderweb print
• 1/2 yard black solid
• 5/8 yard backing fabric
• 22" x 30" batting piece
• Fusible web

Cutting:
Orange pumpkin print:
Six 2-1/2" squares
Reserve remainder for applique

Haunted house print (mine was directional):
Two lengthwise 3" x 12" strips 
From remaining piece: two 4" x 26" strips

Yellow spiderweb print:
Six 2-1/2" squares
Two 1-1/2" x 12" strips

Black solid:
One 8-1/2" x 18-1/2" piece
Twelve 2-1/2" squares
Three 2-1/2" x 42" strips for binding


Step 1: Download the pdf of "Happy Halloween" letters template page here. Trace the appropriate number of letters to spell out "Happy Halloween" onto the paper side of fusible web. Fuse to the wrong side of the orange pumpkin print, making sure the pumpkin faces are oriented correctly.

Step 2: Cut out each letter on the drawn line. Remove backing, position letters on the 8-1/2" x 18-1/2" black piece and fuse in place. 

Step 3: Draw a diagonal line on the back of each yellow and orange 2-1/2" square. Note: The orange pumpkin print is directional, so make sure you have all the orange squares oriented the same way when you draw the line.

Step 4: Pair each marked square right sides together with a black square. Sew 1/4" away from each side of the marked line. Cut on the line and press HST units open.

Step 5: Trim HST units to measure 2" square. Make 12 black/yellow units and 12 black/orange units. Sew 6 black/yellow alternating with 6 black/orange units to make a top border as shown. (Choose the using the black orange units with the pumpkins oriented up when the black triangle is positioned at the bottom of the HST.) Repeat to make a bottom border. (The remaining black/orange units will have pumpkins oriented up  when the black triangle is positioned at the top of the HST.)

Step 6: Sew the HST borders to the top and bottom of the black center piece. Sew 1-1/2" x 12" yellow spiderweb strips to opposite sides, press, and trim excess. Sew 3" x 12" haunted house strips to opposite sides, press and trim excess.

Step 7: Sew 4" x 26" haunted house strips to the top and bottom of the quilt. 
Step 8: Layer the backing right side down, batting, and quilt top right side up. Baste the layers together. Quilt the quilt however you like. (We used a spider web motif for extra spookiness!)
Step 9: Use the three 2-1/2" x 42" black solid strips to bind the quilt. Add a sleeve to the back side of the quilt so it can be hung like a banner on your door or wall. 

*Tutorial originally featured on Fabri-Quilt's blog featuring Trick or Treat fabrics.

Don't miss my trick or treat bag video tutorial! Find it here.

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Trick-or-Treat Bag Tutorial

I'm not sure what I love best about Halloween--the decorations, the costumes, or the candy. (Many people strategically buy candy they don't like so they won't be tempted to eat the leftovers. I strategically buy candy I do like so that I can happily eat whatever's left come November 1.)

So it should come as no great surprise that my Halloween tutorial offers a way to tote all that candy around in style! I first made these bags back in April, and they were featured in the August/September issue of Sew-it...today magazine. I had given one away, so I made another bag this week (it takes less than an hour!), and now both of my boys are ready for Halloween!

This bag is easy to make--by starting with two t-shirts, half the sewing is already done for you!

You'll need:

• Two XS child's t-shirts--one orange and one black (Hobby Lobby has the Gildan brand for $4-$5 each.)
• 1 sheet Washaway Stabilizer
• Fabric marking pen
• Ruler, rotary cutter, iron, matching thread--all those basics you already have

To transform the neck and arms of the t-shirt into bag handles, start with the orange shirt and cut the sleeves off about 1" inside the seams. Measure in 2" from those cut lines on either side and make a mark at the top of the shirt. Measure 2" down from the center neckline and draw a horizontal line. Draw lines down from the shoulder marks to meet the horizontal line. Don't worry about the lines and/or shapes being perfect--this bag finishes with raw edges exposed, which then curl in the washing machine, so no one will be judging! 

Cut out the bag opening that you drew around the neck of the shirt. Turn the orange shirt inside out, layer it on top of the black shirt and make the same cuts.

Cut an 8-1/2" square from the stabilizer and fuse to the inside (which is currently facing out) of the orange bag, approximately 1"-2" down from the top edge of the bag.

Turn bag right side out. Use my templates (forgive the pencil drawings--the only way this tutorial was going to get posted before Halloween was to go with the less professional hand drawn shapes, but they still work!) or draw your own--even easier than carving them into an actual pumpkin! Trace the shapes onto the interfacing, centering the face left to right and positioning the tops of the eyes near the top edge of the interfacing. Cut out face shapes. (You can actually do this project without the interfacing, but the stretchy t-shirt makes both the cutting and the stitching a lot harder--I highly recommend using the interfacing!)

Here are my face shapes cut out. I slide a piece of white paper inside the shirt so you could see them. Orange on orange kind of hurts the eyes! Again, don't worry if your cutting isn't perfect--washing makes this project very forgiving.

Trim the hemmed bottom off the orange shirt. With the shirt still right side in, sew the bottom closed using a 1/4" seam allowance. Cut 1-1/2" squares out of both bottom corners. Repeat on the black shirt, with wrong side out (the only way you'll know this is by looking at the shoulder seams in the handles).

Box the corners of the orange bag. I took a photo, but again, the orange on orange makes it hard to see. If you're unfamiliar with the boxing concept, match up the side "fold" of the shirt with the bottom seam. This will bring together the cut edges of the corner square into a straight line. Sew across that line using a 1/4" seam allowance. This will create a 3-D corner. Repeat on the opposite corner. Turn the orange shirt right side out.

Box the corners of the black shirt. Leave it wrong side out. Slide the black bag inside the orange bag, wrong sides matching. Match up the raw edges (again, doesn't have to be perfect) and pin all raw edges. Sew along all raw edges (both the opening of the bag and the two handles) using a 1/4" seam allowance. A note on thread color here--I used black for both my spool and bobbin. Using an orange/black combo to coordinate with each fabric creates unsightly stitches, and since the raw edges of the bag curl out over the orange, I preferred to use the black and have it be slightly covered. For me, I liked that better than using all orange and having the orange stitching show through on the lining. It's a matter of personal preference and/or how smooth and straight your stitching lines on stretchy jersey are.

 Pin the edges of the orange cut-out sections to the black background and stitch around those. Be very careful that you're only stitching through the front two layers of the bag!

Toss the bag in the wash. This will remove the stabilizer and give the raw edges some nice curl.
Fill with candy!

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial! 

Happy Halloween!